13858/Silence in the Library

Silence in the Library
Date of Scene:	17 January 2023
Location:	New York Public Library, After Hours
Synopsis:	Jennifer and Ariah meet after hours in the library and sip tea and have a chat. The two get to know each other a little better and prepare for future collaborations.
Cast of Characters:	Jennifer Kale, Ariah Olivie

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Jennifer Kale has posed:
The New York Public Library isn't a typical meeting place, especially after hours. On the other hand, it's absolutely perfect for certain conversations. Security isn't especially high (unless you're a book), almost no one breaks in after hours, and there is also a pretty complete Occult section.

Besides, an after-hours meeting is definitely accommodating for someone with Ariah's... condition.

Jennifer Kale isn't afraid of the dark, by any means. A basic lock isn't any trouble for a competent sorceror, so she waits inside near the back entrance. Ariah has a message on her phone with the meeting time and location, so it's just a matter of when she arrives.

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Curiously enough, it's Ariah coming from the inside instead of the outside. She may have already been here for hours, but is just now getting along to their appointed meetup time. "...ah.. bonsoir, ma chere..." she says quietly, greeting formally but also with a hint of affection. "We should have no visitors tonight, and I have been reading since..." she pauses, blinks, "...before the sun went down?" she then considers that answer to herself and nods.

    Time is not exactly the easiest to grasp on to the older one gets. "...but you wished to speak to me, non?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale laughs softly at that, returning the greeting with a finger-wave. "Hiya." she offers. Jen is wearing low-rise bell bottoms and a cropped top beneath a knee-length, open coat. She runs fingers through her blonde curls. "Yeah, I did." she replies. "Really I just wanted to, you know, catch up on things. I mean I know you're... what you are... and you know I can work a little magic. But it's sometimes more complicated than that, and I wanted to clear the air."

Jen shifts her weight, slipping hands into her back pockets. "Besides, there may be opportunities for us to work together."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    In comparison, Ariah has a long jacket draped over her shoulders without her arms in the sleeves. Like an old military officer's coat. Underneath is a black tank top that's cut just short enough to show some of that cocoa midriff over some matte finish black leather pants. With the ensemble ending with her feet in some old hiking boots, she looks less like a witch or a vampire and more like a butch lesbian college student. Which is, more or less, her cover.

    "It is a pleasure to see you again," she nods, "We should be free to speak here. And with what this city is filled with, more allies in our... practice..." she paints their talents in broad strokes. "...means better odds, oui?" She nods towards the darkened stacks. "I have made a ... nest of sorts. There are chairs. A table. Tea."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale's upper lip curls into a small smile and she chuckles softly. "A nest? Interesting choice of words, there. Didn't know that vampires were the 'nesting' kind, really." All the same, she gestures for Ariah to lead the way. "Tea? You -have- been here a while. Didn't know libraries encouraged drinking tea on the premises."

While they walk, Jen offers. "Down in Florida, I'm the guardian of a dimensional portal. Anything comes through, it has to deal with me. Well, me and a pile of sentient vegetation named Ted."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "I believe Blade would call enclaves of vampires 'nests'..." Ariah muses as she walks, leading Jennifer to where she'd been reading for the last eight hours. "Generous donors and those who prove that they are not likely to damage the materials earn special privileges... including off-hour access," she sayys simply. There's no air of superiority, no lilt of overconfidence. Just stated in a firm, simple, matter-of-fact way.

    "A portal?" she then asks, the corner she turns opening up to a reading nook. There's a few chairs, a space against a bare wall so that the chairs don't block shelf access. And of course, a long study table with more traditional study chairs. "What are the sorts of things that come through? I am not versed in portals, at all."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale smirks at that. "Makes you sound like dinosaurs or something." she replies. Brows lift, then. "Generous donors? Oh! Yeah, I suppose you might be." Her head tilts and she looks over the short, dark-skinned vampire, then.

"Are you, like ancient and loaded with stolen Aztec gold or something?"

Jen turns a chair around backwards before straddling it. "Yeah, a portal. All sorts of things from other dimensions come through. Most just peek in and get the hell out, once they see that it's guarded. Some, like the talking ducks, like to visit."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    There's a faint noise, like a laugh or an attempt at one. Regardless, Ariah is amused. "...some would consider vampires to be 'dinosaurs' in a sense, sometimes..." Ah there it is, that chuckle. Then she shakes her head, "Non. I was born in the twenties. I am only a century old now..." she sounds a bit distant for a moment. A full hundred years and change.

    Then she moves to pour some tea. It's nothing spectacularly strange. In fact, it seems like it mixes with her own scent: Cocoa and mint. No cherry, though. "Ah, oui, the ducks. Those still sound pleasant..." she says and pulls up the chair next to Jennifer. "...but I am to assume that most things from that.... realm... are not vocal water fowl?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale accepts a cup of tea and breathes in deeply, letting out a low sound of satisfaction when she exhales. "The ducks are mostly just talkative. And a bit annoying. But you're right; they're the nice ones. Other realms have looked through with ideas of conquest."

Jen takes a sip of her tea, then adds. "It's easy to hide bodies in the swamp."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Ariah quirks a brow, "...ah... I have found that the more I hear about Florida, the less I wish to visit..." she muses. "So you cannot simply... force the invaders back through the portal to dispose of them? Once you have..." she lifts her own tup and makes a little wavely motion. "...disposed of them?" she tilts her head one way, then the other. "Thogh, if I may, why tell me all of this, ma chere?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale tilts her head a little, offering a light shrug. "I wanted you to know a little better who and what you might be dealing with, really. I'm sort of a 'weirdness magnet', if you will. If anything mystical -can- go sideways, it'll wait until I walk through the door first. Y'know?"

"And I've tried just sending them back, but some of those extra-dimensional folks have short memories. Keeping the bodies here on this side sends a certain message, even if they do eventually sink."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    A snowy brow is lifted and Ariah takes an other drink before shaking her head. "...then I suppose your magnetism found me, non?" she offers with a shrug, the movement making one of those loose sleeves sway some. "You are having tea, in the New York Public Library, after midnight, with a century-old vampire witch who..." she actually smiles. It's not often that it shows up. Best enjoy it while one can. "...accidentally won the lead role for a filming of the Count of Monte Cristo... to say nothing of the... the... magic..." she wiggles her fingers playfully. She's animated tonight, and so many words makes that thick French accent of hers even more intense.

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale blinks and laughs at that. "The Count of Monte Cristo? You mean like the sandwich or what?" the blonde asks, and she just might be serious about it. "Do vampires even show up on film? You'll have to tell me all about it."

After all, they have quite some time.

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "Eh?" Ariah blinks. "Ah.. non.... the novel... which... has been made into a movie.. and a musical.. it was written in France, eighty years before I was born..." she bobbles her head from one side to the other. "It is a part of my heritage, and I had... not planned on landing the... lead female role.." she purses her lips, then takes another drink of tea. "..I had only wished to sign up to play music.. but.. I made a mistake. A strange one. As for film? I am... not a.. typical.. vampire? I do not know. Literature has... more than one definition."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale's brows lift. "The novel? Sorry, but I don't read much that isn't a textbook or a dusty old tome." She shrugs at that. "But getting the lead female role is a pretty big deal. Why did you only want to play music?"

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "Because I like music," Ariah says simply. "...I have been playing the violin since... before the war... and I am also well-versed in the more modern bass guitar. But... the violin, always my first love... She can sing a song of joy, or weep in abject sorrow... I wished to join the orchestra for the movie. But. Perhaps... more rarely... I can sing?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale smiles a little at that, sipping her tea with a pinky finger extended a little awkwardly. "Violin, hmm? I'm more of an acoustic guitar girl, myself. Not that I play, but I love to listen." She still leans one elbow on the back of the chair she's straddling. "But trust me when I tell you that you don't want to hear me sing."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "On the contrary," Ariah says, a little more of that cheek coming out. "I believe I have heard your singing, non?" she asks. "...or was it that I made you sing?" A tease, and she brings her cup to her lips again, seemingly more smug at this point. "I honestly have no complaints, ma chere."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale blinks, blonde brows lifting as she blushes before she can think to recover. Jen laughs at that, quite loudly. "Careful, now! You know how hard it is to get someone in MY profession to blush?" And yet Ariah succeeded, probably not for the first time. Nor for the last.

"So anyway, with Ted... er, Man-Thing... in Florida guarding the portal, he's sort of reserved for 'calling in the cavalry' if he's needed up here."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    The vampiress leans a little on a French stereotype as she gestures casually, "...perhaps it is a... how you say.. vampire thing?" Then she shakes her head, "Jesting aside, you sounded... very nice..." she nods, matter-of-factly again. As usual. Then she tilts her head, "...so it is... a... man? Thing?" she asks. "But if he comes up here for something, what about.. the portal?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale chortles a little at the 'very nice', offering a rather improper response with that sound. "Well it was very nice for me, too." she agrees in a lower voice. "It's really a long story, and it's not mine, but I get the gist of it. Ted used to be a scientist, until he got caught up in one of his own experiments and it all went very, very wrong. So now he's a sentient mound of plants. Ridiculously strong and pretty nearly indestructible. At last as far as I can tell. But he's currently guarding the portal, which is why I said bringing him here would be a last-ditch response to something."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Slowly, Ariah shakes her head. "..it is... strangely common.. for that to happen?" she offers, tilting her head. "..not the turning into plants, non, but the scientist caught up in their own experiment? Is the call of science so strong?" Then another slow shrug, "...I cannot speak on it. Magic is similar, non? But. You have at least myself, now. If you need help."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale shrugs a little. "Considering I've failed science every time I've taken it, you're asking the wrong girl. But I -have- studied magic, so I at least have an idea of the appeal. A pretty good one, at that." Jen points, then, with a finger-gun. "And hey, I've READ Frankenstein, at least. It was required in a Lit class."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    The cup in Ariah's hand ends up empty and she sets it down, nodding. "..that is a question, I wish to ask. If it is not prying too much. But what are your particular... fields of study?" The girl's head tilts to the side, scanning over Jennifer's form rather intently, but only visually. "It is a boon that most of us do not have telltale signs of our abilities. But it does make it more interesting when one is curious."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale considers for a moment, leaning back a little on the chair and stretching her long legs out. "My -particular- area of study? I grew up with Ancient Atlantean sorcery, really. It's a family thing. I'm more of a generalist, but a really powerful one. But I'm good with suggestion and illusions, especially."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    That brow quirks again and Ariah sits up, looking interested. "...Atlantean sorcery? That. Is not a field I am familiar with. Heard of? Oui. Studied? Non. That is. A very intense practice? If, I may, what does it do? Or. What do you do with it personally? Is it.. so far to imagine that all practitioners have their own method of.. weaving it?" Then her lips purse, "...you would tell me if you were to attempting using a suggestion on me, oui?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale shrugs almost casually at the question. "I guess it's sorta hard to answer, since it's mostly all I've been exposed to. Really more of a style than anything else, but it's a really broad base to build on." When Ariah asks about using a suggestion, Jen's upper lip twitches into an amused grin. "Sure I would, but I doubt I'd ever have to use one on you. A suggestion works best to give somebody a little nudge to do something that they'd probably do anyway."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "Perhaps, then, I will be able to watch you wield it," Ariah suggests, then frowns. "Though, I would not celebrate that day. Needing to use our abilities for any reason is never a cause for joy. It is grim work, non?" she leans back in her seat, folding her bare arms over her chest. "And you are right. I cannot forsee you needing to use such things on me. I am pleased by your company, for many reasons."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale smiles a little more softly at that. "I think it's because we have more than a few things in common." she offers. "I've had to use it a few times to get out of a tight spot. Picking up names and personal details in surface thoughts just to scare the crap out of someone. Then top it off with an illusion of me turning into a huge demon, with a suggestion to run for their lives."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "That is absolutely impressive, ma chere," Ariah says quietly, her chilly tone lifted up some. "It is beyond my particular purview, to be sure. As well as... non-lethal? It pleases me to say that I believe we will work well together indeed, oui." She leans back in the chair and closes her eyes, "But I am not above spilling blood. And less in the... other sense. Do you take issue with such?"

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale clucks her tongue softly, chuckling. "Well I'm not squeamish about that when it needs to be done. That's sorta how I got to know Ted, really. A couple of extra-dimensional assholes plucked us up and tossed us into an arena to test us. Turns out, unfortunately for them, that Ted and I work really well together."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    A soft chuckle comes from the tiny vampiress now as she tries to imagine that scene. Not knowing at all what Ted looks like, however, she has to picture some kind of mossy shambler instead. Which. Might be a good placeholder? "That would have been interesting, if not entertaining, to observe. That is not something that I have crossed out on my bingo card. Yet," Ariah shakes her head. "The number of bunkers I have aided in clearing out, however, I cannot recall. Just that I have done so, many times, and the quantity does not matter."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale's humor fades a little and she shakes her head. "Not something I would recommend to just anyone. Trust me. The important thing is that we got away and gave them a strong incentive NOT to follow us."